German giant drops the ‘little’ ‘i’

By Classic Yorkshire contributor Tony Lofthouse

In a break with tradition going back 55 years BMW is dropping the ‘i’ badge on future petrol cars.

The ‘i’suffix was first introduced in 1969 to the 2000 range to signify a fuel injection fitting.

But, over the years all BMWs have become fuel-injected making ‘i‘ a bit meaningless. Now, BMW has said the ‘letter’ will be used exclusively for its electric cars as a prefix on the model type.  

BMW brand management chief Bernd Körber explains: “We would like to keep the ‘i’ as an asset and keep it as a signature to indicate you are driving an electric car.”

The company admitted the move comes as customers become confused over its many appearances.

The ninth letter of the alphabet actually first appeared on the all-electric i3 in 2013 when BMW realised that ‘i’ could easily stand for ‘innovation’.

The change will begin with the new X3 M50 that replaces the previous X3 M40i and more combustion-engined models will follow.

The change will begin with the new X3 M50 that replaces the previous X3 M40i and more combustion-engined models will follow.

It seems another sign of the times, but at least we can revel again in the style of BMWs like the iconic 2002tii – double ‘ii’ for good measure!

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